I have fallen in love with the cast waffle irons. The problem is, well, I know nothing about them other than I think they are beautiful and really neat. When I purchase one, it will be a user. I would like a nice one. I would like one that will hold its value. Is there anything to look out for when buying? Specific damage, missing parts, wear areas, etc..? What is a good price range? I am not scared of a really cruddy and dirty one that needs some tlc. In fact, I prefer that. One, for the lower price, two, for the fun in cleaning it up and ringing it back to life. I will be using it on an electric stove with traditional coil burners. Do I need a low base or high base?

A high base was the one design for modern ranges. As the paddles can rotate or flip without hitting the burner, or electric eye. The low base was designed for use in a wood/coal burning stove with the "eye" removed. the waffle paddles, when rotated, would swing through that eye hole when flipped to the other side. Does that make sense to you?

Tommy, for cooking on coil burners you would want a round as opposed to square or rectangular waffle iron, high base as Dwayne recommended,#7 or #8 size. I will warn you they are a PITA to season so you may want to consider buying a WI cleaned and seasoned from a WAGS member.

Personally, I prefer the metal handles. It is risky to treat wood handled WIs in a lye bath since you have to keep the handles out of the water. But the handles are a matter of preference. I hope this helps.

The #7 Griswold New American, High Base, Coil Handles is the one I got to use on my Electric range... fits the coil burner perfectly, and flips through with no lifting. (The #8 High Base requires a little 'lift' when flipping the paddles).

The Problem Is, that it is in such excellent, perfect condition, that it looks too pretty in the display case... and now I don't want to get it all dirty!

The #7 Griswold New American, High Base, Coil Handles is the one I got to use on my Electric range... fits the coil burner perfectly, and flips through with no lifting. (The #8 High Base requires a little 'lift' when flipping the paddles).

The Problem Is, that it is in such excellent, perfect condition, that it looks too pretty in the display case... and now I don't want to get it all dirty!

Cheryl I know EXACTLY what you mean. When I want to put a piece back into the workforce I look for the fugliest piece cause I don't want to use a nice pretty one, or I'll mess it up.

EVERYONE gets the urge to try it and you usually do. But most of the time they are just displayed Have used tall & short frames on an electric range. Have your dog close at hand to gobble up the mistakes

I have a Griswold #8 with a low base. It works just fine on my electric range, although it does require an extra lift when flipping it.

A couple key observations from my experience.

1. Season it a couple of times before trying to use it, and add some extra oil to the batter. If you (a) have enough oil and (b) there is a good coat of seasoning and (c) the waffle iron is at the right temperature, the waffles shouldn't stick at all. (More on (c) in a moment.)

2. When cooking, flip the waffle iron twice: once immediately after pouring the batter, and once after a minute or two. Then leave it on the heat for another minute or two. The first flip ensures that both the top and bottom paddles are sufficiently hot to get it cooked nicely on both sides without burning or being doughy.

3. My electric range seems to like the heat being on about a medium setting. If it's too hot, your waffle will burn on one side, and the resulting crispy critter will be difficult to remove. Too low and it won't get cooked or browned. Early on, err on the side of too short a cook time, rather than too long. It's easy to add cook time, but impossible to take it away if you go too far.

4. Use a thicker batter. It reduces the risk of having an overflow onto the burner and makes fluffier waffles.

There were no directions on the assembly of the component ingredients, so I put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and added all the wet, except the beaten egg whites. Once mixed, I folded in the egg whites.

The recipe is either in an old advertisement posted somewhere here on WAGS, or possibly on CastIronCollector, can't remember which.